Immanuel McElroy (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        University of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins had his players dress for practice in the soccer team's locker room Thursday and Friday.

        “Coach said our locker room is for champions, guys who want to work hard and win,” junior Jamaal Davis said. “I think it got the guys' attention.”

        The five-time defending Conference USA champions played that way for the first 15 minutes Saturday night, building a 20-point lead against Charlotte, one of the teams expected to contend for the league title.

        Then No.25 UC managed to hold off the charging 49ers and hang on for a 76-66 victory at Shoemaker Center.

        “I should've told him to keep us down there,” junior Steve Logan said with a smile. “Coach stressed all week, you have to know what Cincinnati Bearcats means. He has a different type of style of getting our attention. That's all he's trying to do. He's trying to wake us up.”

Steve Logan (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        Said Huggins: “That's where we started. Twelve years ago we were down there. I've been here for 12 years. I've seen guys sweat and bleed and do everything else to try to win, and these guys are reaping the benefits of all the guys' hard work. ... You've got to be good every day.”

        Cincinnati (10-3) has won six of its last seven and extended its streak of conference home victories to 33 in a row.

        “This week really put a bug in my ear about how things are and how things used to be,” Davis said. “We

        had a hard week of practice, a lot more intense. Maybe the loss to Toledo brought that on. It really helped the team. We don't want another week like this past one.”

        Charlotte (8-5) has lost four of its last six and is 0-6 at Shoemaker. The 49ers came in as the No.3 team in the country in 3-pointers made, averaging 10.2 a game. They were just 6-of-18 against the Bearcats.

        UC, meanwhile, was 9-of-14 from 3-point range.

B.J. Grove (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        Logan and Kenny Satterfield each scored 18 points to lead UC, and Antwan Jones added 11 off the bench.

        The 49ers were within 53-47 with 8:44 left after a 3-pointer by freshman Rodney White, who entered as the leading scorer in Conference USA (20.1 ppg). After a UC timeout, Leonard Stokes answered with a 3 for the Bearcats.

        White scored 14 consecutive Charlotte points and was the only 49er to score over a six-minute stretch.

        Cincinnati got a huge break when White fouled Stokes going to the basket for his fifth foul. He was out of the game with 6:41 remaining.

        Charlotte guard Demon Brown, a first-year sophomore, cut it to 60-54 with a 3-pointer with 5:51 to go. Satterfield came back and hit a driving bank shot to put UC ahead eight.

        It was a seven-point game when the Bearcats came down on a break. Satterfield drove the lane and kicked back out to Logan, who nailed a 3-pointer to put Cincinnati ahead by 10 with 2:29 left.

        The 49ers pulled within seven again, and this time Satterfield hit a 3 to make the deficit 10 again.

        “Those two guys put daggers in our hearts,” Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said.

Kenny Satterfield (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        Charlotte, the top-scoring team in Conference USA (84.2 ppg), was held to a season-low 66 points. Its .345 shooting percentage was a low for a UC opponent this season.

        White was called for two fouls in the first 2:38 of the game and picked up his third before the first half was over. He had four points on just 1-of-5 shooting in the opening 20 minutes. He picked up foul No.4 just 1:17 into the second half trying to rebound his own miss.

        He and Brown each finished with 18 points to lead Charlotte.

        “We continue not to have everybody on the same page for 40 minutes,” Huggins said. “But we were on the same page for longer than usual.”

        The Bearcats built a 35-15 lead with 5:20 left in the first half, then didn't score again until after intermission. For more than four minutes, Cincinnati didn't even get off a shot without turning over the ball.

        UC's lead was cut to 35-24 by halftime thanks to the 49ers' 9-0 run.

        “We're very disappointed,” Lutz said. “We were outcoached and outplayed. I've said all along the regular-season title runs through this city, and I mean that.”

DAUGHERTY: UC wins toughest team contest
Jones gets offense going

CHARLOTTE (66)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Zimmerman       27   0-2   0-0   1-5  1  0    0
White           17  4-10   8-8   0-2  0  5   18
Stephens        31   1-7   6-6   2-9  1  1    8
Brown           33  7-19   1-2   2-4  0  1   18
Thomas          29   1-5   6-6   1-4  1  2    9
Jones           19   2-4   0-1   2-3  1  3    4
Je Williams      2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Guevara         21   1-4   0-0   1-1  1  4    2
Johnson         21   3-4   1-2   1-4  1  4    7
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 19-55 22-25 10-32  6 20   66
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.345, FT-.880. 3-Point Goals:
6-18, .333 (Zimmerman 0-2, White 2-2, Brown 3-7,
Thomas 1-4, Guevara 0-3). Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: 4 (Zimmerman 2, Stephens, Jones).
Turnovers: 17 (Brown 5, Johnson 3, Guevara 2,
Stephens 2, Zimmerman 2, Je Williams, Jones,
White). Steals: 3 (Brown, Johnson, Thomas).


CINCINNATI (76)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Davis           27   3-8   3-6   3-8  2  4    9
Stokes          38   2-8   4-6   1-4  3  1    9
Little          28   0-3   1-3   0-5  0  4    1
Satterfield     24   6-9   2-2   1-5  2  4   18
Logan           30   4-6   7-8   0-0  2  3   18
Jones           18   5-9   0-0   1-2  2  3   11
Mcelroy         23   2-8   0-2   1-2  1  0    4
Grove           12   3-6   0-0   3-5  0  2    6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 25-57 17-27 10-31 12 21   76
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.439, FT-.630. 3-Point Goals:
9-14, .643 (Stokes 1-4, Satterfield 4-4, Logan
3-4, Jones 1-2). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots:
3 (Davis 2, Little). Turnovers: 11 (Satterfield
4, Little 2, Stokes 2, Davis, Grove, Logan).
Steals: 5 (Satterfield 2, Stokes 2, Davis).
__________________________________
Charlotte          24   42  -   66
Cincinnati         35   41  -   76
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Charlotte 1 (Guevara).  A:
13,176. Officials: Steve Olson, Mark Whitehead,
Arnie Mcdonald.
 

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